Cognitive Ability Training for Seniors With Mild Cognitive Impairment

Verbesserung Kognitiver Fähigkeiten Bei Personen Mit Verdacht Auf Eine Leichte Kognitive Beeinträchtigung

This study investigates the beneficial effects of prefrontal brain stimulation (with transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS]) during working memory training in seniors with mild cognitive impairments.The placebo-controlled double blinded study includes 50 elderly patients which will be randomized into verum or sham tDCS.

In this project, we want to test whether the effectiveness of neuropsychological exercise therapy can be increased in elderly persons suspected of having an MCI by means of parallel tDCS treatment.

All test participants train over 6 sessions within 2 weeks two different working memory tasks with increasing difficulty. In the randomized, double-blind, prospective therapy study, participants are assigned to either a Verum-tDCS or a placebo-tDCS group. The Verum-tDCS group receives active stimulation in parallel to the exercise therapy, while the placebo group does not receive tDCS stimulation. To check the effects of the therapy, we measure performance and neuronal activation in different executive tasks using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Furthermore, we will check whether the training increases the volume of the grey matter (Draganski et al., 2004, Malchow et al., 2016) and the expression of BDNF can be increased (Schuch et al., 2015).

Inclusion Criteria:

• suspected MCI
• total CERAD score <= 85.1
• MMSE >=24
• native german speaker
• between 50-75 years old
• right handed

Exclusion Criteria:

• impairment of daily living activities
• psychiatric, neurological diseases
• uncorrected hearing or vision deficits
• actual psychopharmaca intake
• metal parts in the head
• medical electronical implants